For fellow Republicans–especially those keenly aware of historical and economic realities (a sadly vanishing part of our culture)–it really does seem as if we have collectively arrived at a “now or never” moment in American history. If we get it wrong this time around, it appears to ever-growing numbers of the population that we stand to lose the whole enchilada. To those with this world view–a list that includes myself–if we do not stand by our reason and by our conservative principles, simply winning an election in November might delay a collapse of our Grand Experiment, but it will not prevent that collapse. We cannot afford to merely elect another set of weak-kneed Republicans who talk a big game about standing on principle before the election, only to–once the election is won –eventually fold like a tent when push comes to shove. We must take great care to elect Representatives who care much less about being re-elected and much more about saving the greatest, most prosperous experiment in World History from the tyranny of this narcissistic, egomaniacal President and a political philosophy that has never been successful, anywhere, without exception.

After first quoting Alexander Hamilton from Federalist 1, Bill Kristol speaks very eloquently about the importance of not only defeating the Statists–but of channeling the energy generated by the Tea Party movement to create bold, principled alternatives to the failed dogma of Keynes, Marx and Obama. I hope Kristol and TWS will be tolerant of my quoting the piece so liberally because it is a message that resonates, and which we must constantly remain cognizant of if we are to win the War, rather than being satisfied with winning only the current battle:

“…we have arrived at a genuine crisis, or a set of crises, and we may well be at a decisive moment for the country.

This sense of crisis is what animates the Tea Parties… The combination of patriotic gratitude and urgent alarm produces a determination to act and a willingness to deal boldly with the crises in the economy, in foreign policy, and in self-government that the country faces….

… Of course, the leaders of the Democratic party don’t want to come to grips with the present moment. Committed to stale progressive policies, they’re doing their very best to push more of them through, even as the failure of those policies becomes ever more evident. Serious reflection on the failure of their favored policies, both at home and abroad, would be too painful. It would require a rethinking too consequential and too disruptive to be willingly undertaken. After all, experience has shown that liberals are more disposed to have the rest of us suffer, than to right themselves by rethinking the dogmas by which they are enthralled.

But it’s increasingly clear that “the inefficacy of the subsisting federal government,” in our case welfare state liberalism, is no longer sufferable. Out-of-control spending and debt really do threaten our economic future. Weakness and timidity abroad really do threaten a world in which terrorists and fanatics possess, and use, nuclear weapons. The nanny state, at once all-intrusive and all thumbs, really does threaten the future of self-government. The dogmas of multiculturalism really do threaten the strength of a free society….

… At this moment, bold and seemingly impolitic or impractical ideas are more useful than the diligent repetition of mostly sensible short-term critiques and proposals. At a moment like this, talking points are not enough.

That’s the challenge for the Republican party. It is of course a real, existing political party, with real existing responsibilities. So it has to do the day-to-day work of a loyal opposition—helping Generals Petraeus, Mattis, and Odierno to win the wars we’re fighting and which we certainly can’t afford to lose, resisting foolish Obama administration programs and appointments, proposing legislation and amendments that would improve public policy or at least highlight the difference between the two parties.

But the GOP can be the party of the future as well as the present. It can be the party of fundamental reflection and radical choice as well as the party of day-to-day criticism and opposition. This isn’t easy. It can lead to mistakes and missteps, tensions and confusions. But it’s what the moment requires.

So fear not the Tea Parties. Be open to fundamental reforms. Belt-tightening and program-trimming, more transparency and greater efficiency, are not enough. The danger for Republicans isn’t that they will address the current crisis too boldly. It’s that they won’t be bold enough. “

Pulling the United States back from the precipice of economic catastrophe is going to require real political courage and will–ours and those who we elect. And if we Republicans are successful in re-taking the House this fall, we must not allow it to stop there. For as Kristol suggests, it is when the new Congress takes office that the real war will begin.

First: (assuming a House majority) the Republicans must understand that they hold the purse strigs . Their first order of businsess must be to refuse to fund all programs within the Obama Leftist agenda that were forced down our throats against the popular will of a large majority of our citizens. No funding, no program. Of course, in so doing they will certainly draw the ire of the President and a constant gale-force wind of leftist platitudes, class envy, racial division and bitter, angry attacks–which will gladly be amplified by a sychophantic, bought-and-paid-for “news media”. All the stops will be pulled out, probably with an intensity, anger and “sky is falling” rhetoric eclipsing anything yet seen. This is when our Representatives will need us the most: we and they will need to argue to whoever will listen the lessons of history, economics and reason. We must point out the failures that are an inevitable product of leftist dogma. We must proudly stand on principle, and then–as it did in the Reagan years–our case will resonate, and the truth will eventually succeed in turning the tide.

This is the point where previous Republican majorities have failed to hold the line. But not this time…this will either be our shining moment–or else we stand to lose the American Revolution which began 234 years ago this month when a group of brilliant and very courageous men–who knew they would probably hang for doing so–put their names on a document which declared to the world that when ANY government which dared to deny men the Rights bestowed upon them by their Creator, those men had every reason and right to revolt against such tyranny. If future generations are to enjoy the same Natural Rights that we have been so lucky to live, we cannot allow our Representatives to cave in to pressure to not do the right thing for Liberty. We must diligently and unselfishly insist that those who Represent our ultimate desire to save this wonderful place, must ignore the media and all the wailing and moaning that the Angry Left can muster; the ultimate focus must remain on real-world experince, what works and what does not work, free markets and defending our citizens and Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. Because this time, the consequences of not standing firm for what is right will certainly be the loss of our Liberty, the emasculation of the Constitution, and the end of the Dream of those men who toiled in the heat of summer in Independence Hall all those years ago.

Today we Americans–particularly those of us who have become so enraged by the totalitarian erosion of our liberties and by the State stealing ever-greater amounts of the fruits of our time and labor, for their benefit, corrupt payoffs, power and wealth–nevertheless remain what Lincoln called “The Last Best Hope on Earth”. But in 1789 another great American was asked what kind of Government we are to have if we are to remain free. Benjamin Franklin’s famous reply was “A Republic, if you can keep it…”